


Ultimate Disguise

by viceroyvonmutini



Category: Person of Interest (TV)
Genre: F/F, and kinda fred burkle
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-18
Updated: 2015-08-18
Packaged: 2018-04-15 10:57:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,655
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4604148
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/viceroyvonmutini/pseuds/viceroyvonmutini
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Root was undercover and Shaw had what she wanted.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ultimate Disguise

**Author's Note:**

> prompt from exerciseindisguise: 'can I have a sort of Angel/POI thing where Root dons Fred Burkle as an alias and meets Shaw in med school?'
> 
> You absolutely can! I really enjoyed this prompt but it took a long long time: finding the balance where Fred wasn't really Fred and still showing it was Root with Fred's mannerisms was probably the second hardest thing I've ever written. Maybe third. 
> 
> I know absolutely nothing about science so it's all made up. All of it.

The mission was simple: collect the vial.

What was in the vial wasn't her place to know, but somewhere in this faculty was a research substance that her current employer wanted and she was going to get it.

This wasn't her usual method of operating, an employment contract she would never usually take on, but times were hard and it was easier to perform a simple 'snatch and grab' than it was to organise a faultless murder. So here she was posing as a student trying to find a non-suspicious way in which to ingratiate her self with the Medical School.

Root walked alone on the hot day, pushing her newly acquired glasses further onto her face as she juggled the pile of text books in her arms. Officially, Root was now Winifred Burkle: postgraduate student in her second semester studying Physics- the deep theoretical stuff that after one and a half semester's had Root both challenged and engaged.

Still, college was college and Root didn't do well with moronic students in their early twenties. Enter Winifred Burkle: shy enough to avoid major social gatherings but intelligent enough to have a fearsome reputation within her faculty and those around her, earning her unusual respect.

It had taken almost 5 months for complete integration: she was nothing if not committed, and that included completing her own college assignments which were less than tedious but distinctly reminded her of overdue history projects that littered her short High School years. Root was anything if not thorough and she wasn't about to get caught on a simple job.

And so here she was making her way to the Medical School on an errand utterly related to her day-to-day business. Not that she hadn't already scoped out the building but if she could do this without having to break into a high tech lab illegally it would make her life easier. She was aiming for a clean job- no fuss- and Winifred Burkle would carry out the rest of her semester under no suspicion. 

Root reached the Medical building, sliding in through the door behind someone who had the passcode to enter before taking in her surroundings.

There was a reception area; Root headed over.

'Can I help you?'

'I'm looking for the lab?'

'Which lab is it you're looking for?'

'Right! Yes um...241.'

'Okay that's just to your right, up the stairs to floor two and keep walking: it should be on your left.'

'Great. Thanks.'

Root flashed a grateful grin before following the directions, taking the steps one at a time as she rushed to the top exhausted, hair in her face as her glasses slowly slid from her nose.

Shaking her head slightly in an effort to both remove the hair from her eyes and push her glasses back onto her face in one simultaneous action, she made her way down the corridor low heels clicking on the wooden flooring.

Reaching the correct door she pushed it open hesitantly, peeking her head around to scan the space.

'Hello?' she called softly.

Receiving no response she pushed the door open all the way, eyes scanning the room as she walked forward checking out the lab equipment.

Officially the reason she was here was a collaboration between Physics and Biology: a med student (Root didn't yet know their identity but it was hardly relevant to her goals) wanted to investigate the effects of prolonged radiation on the genetic makeup of certain species and, as a result, determine whether it was possible to manipulate for a specific and desired mutation.

Winifred Burkle was a theoretical physicist specialising in the study of dimensional space, string theory and anything quantum levelled. However, this was too good an opportunity for Root to pass up; she knew radiation, she knew basic genetics and that was enough to constitute her as a useful asset. One selection process later and here she was in a lab two floors below where the miraculous substance that brought her here was apparently located.

She wandered around the lab inspecting various equipment that she would no doubt be using as she waited for her partner. It was a big lab, too big for one person to reasonably have to themselves yet there were signs of only one inhabitant using this space.

It was tidy, neat: the opposite of Root's messy storage cupboard that called itself her office.

'Who are you?' demanded a voice from the doorway and Root snapped her head up to the gruff sound.

She stood up immediately, shuffling the books in her arms as they threatened to fall.

'Hi.'

The woman didn't reply. She was short, much shorter than Root herself, and underneath the white lab coat was clad in all black. Her hair hung in a loose ponytail, strands falling over the unforgiving glare that fixed itself onto Root.

'I'm Winifred Burkle- Fred. Fred Burkle. Call me Fred. I'm here for the genetics project? I was told to come up here for 2. I'm a little late but I got lost; it's so confusing over here. Sorry 'bout that.'

The woman watched Root- or Fred- say her piece voice ever cheerful, but still did not respond.

'Are you uh...are you expecting me?'

The woman walked forward and busied herself adjusting an on-going experiment.

'Get your stuff set up.'

Root perked at the instructions.

'Great!'

Root turned to a nearby clear lab bench and placed her heavy books onto the wood with a thud. She turned to face her new lab partner.

'So what's your name?'

'Shaw.'

Root tilted her head. Shaw. Wasn't a talker and so far not the most welcome. She almost smirked: she could see why the woman had her own lab.

'Do you...have a first name?'

Shaw didn't reply.

Not one to be deterred Root tried again.

'So what're we trying to do?'

This caught Shaw's attention as she finally turned to engage the woman.

'You read the brief?'

Root nodded.

'Of course. It sounded great-fascinating really, if a bit overdone but-'

'Overdone?'

Shaw's voice easily cut through Root's erratic sentence.

'Not in a bad way! But a little. Radiation mutation is commonplace research although you want to actual control it which poses a completely new set of problems and variables.'

Shaw grunted and Root took that as a sign to continue. She turned around, finding the right book in her large pile and flicking through to the correct page.

'You either want to control the radiation or the genetics. Because you're a biologist I made the assumption that you wanted the genetics although honestly it seems easier this way in terms of developing a solution, though I only looked briefly. I thought if we could find some way to control the specific gene sequence that is affected rather than the random cause and effect-though that poses more issues and the only ways I could think of solving them were bending at least 2 fundamental laws of nature- but theoretically speaking it's entirely possible.'

'This is your work?'

As Root had been explaining as fast as her mouth would let her (Fred allowed her to run with her thoughts. It was freeing in a way but a hard habit to kick and lacked the precision of her own careful analysis and choice of words) Shaw had come up behind and was now scanning the open page of Root's almost unintelligible scribbles.

Root nodded furiously.

'Obviously I haven't solved much but I had a preliminary look. It's doable.'

'We can isolate a gene sequence?' asked Shaw, standing up straight.

'Sure that's the easy bit. It's the 'intended effect' bit that's really got me stumped but theoretically.'

'Can we do it?'

Root nodded, grinning a little.

'Absolutely.'

 

 

* * *

 

There was something about Sameen Shaw (a first name had been easy to find with the other information Root had at her disposal) that had Root's interest.

Root's first thoughts were that she wouldn't last three years as a doctor. She was good- almost as good as Root herself- at playing people. Root had seen the woman charm her way for more funding and access to machinery neither should ever have touched but other than that Shaw rarely seemed to make an effort. Not that Root minded.

There was something refreshing about her blunt approach, about her unforgiving nature. Fred Burkle was at a loss; Root was enjoying herself immensely and had on numerous occasions been forced to fight back a grin or a particularly scathing retort.

Shaw was intelligent, fiercely so, and that proved dangerous for Root herself. A woman skilled at playing those around her had to have knowledge of how people worked. She would be analysing Root just as much as Root was her, and that was dangerous. There was the small chance that Shaw would happily write her off but they worked in close proximity and while Shaw seemed to radiate disinterest regarding others, others were not Root.

Root was smart and competent and matched Shaw move for move. They worked well together even as Root played Fred: the long spouts of speech the mind moving quickly. Shaw was one of the few that had ever kept up and it made for an almost instinctive understanding, but it wasn't just that. They would have been unstoppable were Root herself.

Root wanted to toy with her like a cat, push her boundaries make her squirm see how far it took before she snapped but she couldn't. Not as timid Fred: eager to fill silence head running far too fast vocalising every thought. Root was used to her thoughts remaining in her head/ She liked silence, and became hyper aware when their lab fell into such quiet: when Root ran in her head thoughts that should be travelling through her mouth and would instantly start up talking.

Shaw made her jumpy. Shaw made her make mistakes.

The sooner she got the vial, the better.

 

* * *

 

 

'I ran a few simulations.'

Shaw continued scrawling on her pad of paper as Root flitted behind her busying herself. She was growing used to Shaw's lack of response so she continued.

'I wanted to see what would happen altering the variables we talked about. Largely fruitless but I ran some other theories and I think I came up with a viable theorem. Well, maybe. It's sort of a theory-in-infancy. But the math works if we get it right-exactly right: I ended up with at least two new species of cockroach. Turns out they aren't that resistant to radiation though honestly that myth was probably-'

'You ran simulations?'

Shaw did this a lot: jumping back, picking out a word, a phrase always the right one that made Root smirk and made Fred stumble over already forgotten sentences.

'Um yes. Yes small ones not the big virtual reality type.'

'Since when do you know computers?'

'Since when did you care?'

Shaw looked up at Root slightly, raising an eyebrow. There it was: Shaw dragging out something she wasn't meant to see. Root shrugged and put on a grin.

'You never seemed interested before.'

'It was never relevant before.'

Root tilted her head.

'You never asked before. S'not like it's a big thing.'

'Physicist with a thing for computers.'

'You never been tempted by the infinite knowledge of Google?'

'Not really. No.'

 

 

* * *

 

'What are you doing?'

Root spun round from the door she had been pulling at.

'What?'

'What are you doing?'

'Trying to get into this lab?'

'That isn't our lab.'

Root shifted, standing up straight.

'I know I just wanted some equipment for our next run. Of experiments I mean.'

'What equipment?'

'I...don't know.'

'It's a secure lab.'

Root glanced back at the door, eyes lingering on the secure keypad before looking back to Shaw.

'Oh.'

Shaw raised an eyebrow and Root tried to look surprised at the news but the way Shaw held her gaze assured her that she wasn't convinced.

'Can we go in?'

'No.'

Shaw began to walk away, Root's eyes on her back.

'Right well I guess I'll just-'

'It's not that interesting,' called Shaw gruffly.

Root snapped to attention.

'What?'

'The lab. It's not that interesting.'

'You have access?' Root chided herself, her tone just a little too eager to be simply curious.

Shaw didn't answer, disappearing down the corridor.

 

 

* * *

 

 

'I brought you a sandwich.'

Shaw grunted, ignoring the food as Root slid it on the bench beside where she was working, before sitting on the stool next to her, legs dangling as she unwrapped the paper on her sandwich.

'Whatcha doin'?'

Shaw stopped, sighing once before reaching for her own sandwich and tearing into it.

'How's it coming along?'

'Slow,' replied Shaw through a mouthful of food.

'Are we behind?'

'We have time.'

Root hummed in agreement but it lacked enthusiasm. Shaw might have time but she did not: her employers wanted the vial and she still didn't have it. Sameen Shaw had something she wanted.

Root let the silence fall as Sameen finished her sandwich before shifting slightly and clearing her throat.

'So I was...thinking. Thinking some things and I thought maybe we could do something. Nice with food and dinner and after work and I was thinking I could buy you food. If you wanted.'

Shaw wasn't looking at her, eyes fixed firmly down the barrel of a microscope and Root suppressed an exasperated sigh. If it were her, which it technically was but that was beside the point, this would be a lot more straightforward. But Fred was Fred and Fred had a habit of skirting furtively around the point in a stumble of words before tripping up right into the crux of matters and as Root had learnt, Shaw tended to lose interest. Inane chatter was certainly not her thing.

'Where?'

'What?'

Okay so she wasn’t quite expecting Shaw to agree so readily.

'Don't sound so surprised,' muttered Shaw, eyes still firmly on the slide beneath the microscope lens.

Root grinned.

'Well I was thinking I know this restaurant and it does steak so maybe if you want to go there Friday night?'

Shaw nodded once.

'Sounds nice.'

Well that was...unexpected.

 

* * *

 

 

The sounds of the restaurant filled their ears, the gentle clink of cutlery scraping against china plates as Shaw ferociously tucked into her meal. Root took her time: watched as Shaw unabashedly tore at her steak like an animal. Objectively it wasn't pleasant to watch and some part of Root knew that, but as Fred she sat and watched wide brown eyes gazing like Shaw was some form of specimen that needed to be studied and to Root she almost was.

'Why the meal?' said Shaw, chewing a hearty chunk of meat.

'Huh? Oh I uh...I thought it would be nice for us. For us to talk outside of the lab.'

That was partially a lie. She did want to talk to Shaw outside of the lab because she wanted to gain access to the locked room and to do that she needed Shaw to tell her the code. Root could hack people. Shaw was not, however, most people.

Shaw didn't reply firmly focused on her food and Root looked at her own meal, taking a mouthful.

The conversation didn't flow and Root struggled to find a conversation topic; her instinct was to flirt her way to the code but Fred wasn't a traditional flirter and Shaw would hardly be receptive, though Root let a small smile tug at her lips. Root would not be averse to trying as herself.

'What?'

'Hm?'

'You smirked.'

'No I...yes. Yeah I did.'

'Why?'

'You.'

Shaw waited and Root shrugged. Shaw moved on, eyes flickering to barely eaten meal before Root.

'You not hungry?'

Root shook her head.

'No. Not really. You want it?'

Shaw shrugged even as her hand reached across the table to slide the plate across to her and Root grinned, watching the action with doting eyes.

'So what do you do? Outside of what we're doing I mean.'

Shaw shrugged.

'I work around the labs for credit.'

'And the locked lab?'

Shaw eyed her with something dangerously close to suspicion but apparently seemed to let it lie. So she wasn't being particularly subtle with her inquiries, but this was Shaw and she didn't have the time to be discreet.

'Work for a pharmaceutical company. I intern with them.'

'What're they developing?'

'A formula of some kind. Lots of corporate espionage going on.'

Root shifted excitably. Fred would be excited by such tales but Root's stomach dropped; she really didn't want to have to kill anyone, least of all Sameen.

'Have you met one? A spy?'

Shaw looked at her and Root met the gaze head on: she was not about to back down now.

'If they were good, I wouldn't know would I?'

Root sat back in her seat.

'No. I suppose not.'

Root thought she saw the hints of a smirk.

 

 

 

* * *

 

Root had taken her out for tacos.

Fred liked tacos (as did Root, though not as much as Fred professed) and Sameen Shaw was in the habit of thoroughly enjoying most food substances so Root had taken her out for tacos, visiting a local taco stand just nearby.

‘What d’ya think?’ asked Root through a mouthful of food.

Shaw didn’t answer, slotting in her final taco. The table between them was littered with wrappers, mostly from Shaw but Root had tried her best to contribute to the growing pile.

Root blamed her lack of enthusiasm on being full; though she was certainly slowed by her irritating fascination with the way Shaw ate.

‘We need to head back.’

Root nodded.

‘Right. I’ll just-‘

‘I’ve got it.’

Shaw pushed her hands aside, scooping up the various paper wrappers into her arms and Root watched as she went to put them in the bin. Shaw turned, motioning her with impatience to follow and Root did.

Falling into step beside her Root caught her eye, letting a small smile grace her lips.

‘Thank you.’

Shaw shrugged.

 

* * *

 

 

'Is it working?'

Root nodded enthusiastically.

'Like the algorithms said it would. I think I've found a way to isolate the DNA.'

Shaw nodded.

'Good.'

Shaw was stood behind her, watching the screen over her shoulder and Root spun round on her stool to face the woman.

'I think I've done everything that I can. The helix segments are rough but I wasn't sure how accurate you wanted it so I just went with precision. It should be easy for you to find what you're looking for and trigger what you want,' Root looked at her eyes wide, 'we did it.'

'You thought we wouldn't?'

'Well it was a bit hit and miss. I didn't think my theory would be right.' That was true: Root knew nothing of biology. 'But I'm glad that it was!'

Shaw looked at her.

'It was a good theory.'

She turned away, busying herself in a new area of the lab and Root watched her, not expecting the compliment.

'I...thanks. Thank you.'

Shaw shrugged, back still toward her.

'You're good.'

'Good?'

Shaw looked over her shoulder at Root who eyed her warily.

'439875'

Root blinked but Shaw didn't let her question, already heading out of the door.

 

* * *

 

 

'Thought I'd find you here.'

The voice startled her but Root wasn't so much of a fool as to have not expected the company. She turned startled, pushing her glasses back up onto her face in a show of nerves.

'Shaw! Sameen hi. Hello I was just-'

'Stealing the vial.'

Root blinked. It was dark and late, but the light of the moon provided Shaw with more than enough illumination to see the cabinet behind Root empty.

Root sighed.

'I liked you,' if Shaw was shocked at the change in demeanour she didn't show it. If she were similarly shocked by the handgun pulled from the pocket of Root's lab coat she also didn't show it.

'Are you going to shoot me Fred?'

Root tilted her head.

'My name is Root.' Shaw didn't answer, raising an eyebrow instead. ‘I don't want to kill you.'

'Then don't.'

'It doesn't work like that Sameen.'

The way she said her name was so different now syllables rolling off her tongue like honey, and Shaw found it grating.

'I don't think you want a dead body on your hands.'

'You're very calm.'

'So are you.'

'I'm holding the gun.'

'Is it loaded?'

'Sameen, you think too little of me. I'm not as sweet as poor Fred.'

'You made a bad Fred,' Root looked affronted, eyebrows raised, 'so which corporation do you work for?'

'Independent contractor. Look Sameen it's been fun really, but I'm afraid I have to go.'

Shaw nodded in acquiescence, stepping aside.

'You’re not going to stop me?'

'Should I?'

'Not going to defend your employers?'

'You have a gun and I'm tired.'

The nonchalant way she was being addressed made Root's mouth twitch in a smirk.

She put away her gun and instead advanced towards Sameen, coming up in front of her. Shaw met her gaze head on.

'How long have you known?'

'You didn't like the silence.'

Root waited and Shaw sighed.

'You had to fill silence. Not because you didn't like it but you felt you couldn't leave it. Only two reasons to do that: you're scared, or you don't want to think. You were both: scared I'd notice how calm you were and hoping I wouldn't think too hard.'

'I'm impressed.'

'Don't be. You make a bad Fred.'

Root chuckled lightly, giving Shaw the once over raking her eyes across her clothed form and Shaw felt like she was being dissected.

Root smirked and spun on her heel, heading for the door.

'Goodbye Sameen,' she sung, hands deep in the pockets of her lab coat, 'we'll see each other again soon.'

Shaw watched as the door swung closed and shook her head.

Drama queen.


End file.
